Second Madam Zhan had just sold a batch of Sichuan brocade at a rock-bottom price. When she heard the news, she regretted it so much that she beat her chest and stamped her feet. She even went before the Old Madam and badmouthed the original Cheng Yao, claiming that she was an ill-fated star who had brought ruin upon her husband’s family’s business the moment she married in.
A glint flashed through Cheng Yao’s eyes. If that was the case…
This time, she was going to make Second Madam Zhan spit blood.
She swayed her way into the shop and called out, “How much Sichuan brocade do you have? I’ll take all of it.”
Heavens! A huge customer had arrived. They had to seize the opportunity!
The shopkeeper hurried out in excitement, but when he took a closer look and saw Cheng Yao, he inwardly cursed his luck and immediately wilted.
He reluctantly bowed to her, his expression unpleasant. “Princess Consort, what brings you here?”
Cheng Yao raised an eyebrow. “What? Am I not allowed to come?”
The shopkeeper’s heart skipped a beat. Everyone said this Princess Consort was a fool, but looking at her now, she possessed both the bearing of a noble young lady and the authority of the mistress of a household. She certainly did not look like one.
“Of course you may come.” He softened his expression. “It’s just that I’m currently troubled by the lack of buyers for our Sichuan brocade and don’t have time to entertain you. Please look around the shop on your own and choose any fabrics you like.”
As he spoke, he signaled to several assistants to bring out pastries and tea before courteously ushering Cheng Yao inside.
Cheng Yao sat down in a chair without the slightest hint of restraint. “Is the shopkeeper getting old and hard of hearing? I just said I wanted to buy Sichuan brocade.”
The shopkeeper looked astonished. “Princess Consort, there’s such a large quantity of Sichuan brocade. Are you certain you want all of it?”
Cheng Yao nodded. “All of it.”
“This…” The shopkeeper suppressed his delight, rolled his eyes, and pretended to advise her. “Princess Consort, there’s so much of it, and the patterns are already out of fashion…”
“My elder sister married beneath her station. I’m buying some fabric for her dowry,” Cheng Yao said leisurely as she ate a pastry. “Ask the Old Madam or Second Madam Zhan for the lowest possible price.”
It seemed this Princess Consort really was a fat sheep!
They had to seize her—absolutely had to!
The shopkeeper put on an embarrassed expression. “This shop belongs to the Zhan family. If you need the fabric, you may take it all and we’ll simply record it in the accounts. However, I…”
Cheng Yao interrupted him. “There’s no need to worry. Just follow the rules.”
“Yes.” The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment before bowing in agreement. He ordered the assistants to take good care of Cheng Yao, then personally hurried back to the Zhan residence.
Second Madam Zhan was speaking with the Old Madam. After hearing the shopkeeper’s report, she covered her mouth with a handkerchief and laughed. “The thoughts of a poor person are truly impossible to hide. She wants to save face while also getting cheap goods.”
After a pause, she added, “Haoting is really too much. No matter how much he dislikes Cheng Yao, he should at least give her some monthly allowance. Looking so shabby will not only make her a laughingstock, it will also bring shame upon the Zhan family.”
The Old Madam’s face darkened.
Zhan Haoting was not treating that little wretch with disdain at all. On the contrary, he doted on her and defended her at every turn.
That vile girl was not short of money either. She was merely stingy and unwilling to spend, which was why she had resorted to this humiliating spectacle. It was truly disgusting.
Seeing how openly the Old Madam loathed Cheng Yao, Second Madam Zhan’s lips curved faintly. “Go back and tell the Princess Consort that the Sichuan brocade cannot be sold to her. If she really wants it, we can give her one bolt.”
The shopkeeper hesitated. “Second Madam, I’m not sure why, but over the past two years, heavy brocade, Yunjin, and Hangzhou satin have become extremely popular on the market, while no one wants Sichuan brocade. The brocade in the Zhan family’s shops has been sitting in storage for more than a year. It’s rare for the Princess Consort to be willing to buy all of it…”
“She wants all of it?” Second Madam Zhan frowned. “How much Sichuan brocade do we have in the shop?”
The shopkeeper carefully stole a glance at her expression. “T-two thousand bolts or so.”
What?
Even the Old Madam was shocked. “How could so much have accumulated?”
The shopkeeper was terrified and bent his waist to nearly ninety degrees. “Sichuan brocade stopped selling last year. I thought the colors and patterns had gone out of fashion, so I ordered more new stock to help sell the old. Who could have known that not a single piece would move…”
“Idiot!” Before he could finish, Second Madam Zhan kicked him to the ground. “If it wasn’t selling, why did you order more? Is your head filled with water?”
The shopkeeper curled up on the floor, trembling. “This subordinate was incompetent. I am willing to accept punishment.”
“Will punishing you recover our losses?” Second Madam Zhan’s face had gone pale with fury. If he had not been recommended by her daughter-in-law, Xianxian, she would have loved to kick him to death.
“What’s done is done. There’s no use saying more,” the Old Madam said, still relatively composed. “Cheng Yao is buying so much Sichuan brocade. Who knows what she is plotting? We cannot sell it to her, lest we become involved in whatever trouble she causes.”
Second Madam Zhan hurriedly said, “Mother, this batch of Sichuan brocade is worth twenty to thirty thousand taels. It would be a pity not to sell it to her.”
The Old Madam lifted her eyes. “Are you saying that without her, it can’t be sold?”
The shopkeeper mustered his courage and said, “Old Madam, at present, there really is no one willing to buy Sichuan brocade…”
The Old Madam’s voice abruptly rose, sharp and stern. “If you can’t sell that much fabric, what use are you?”
The shopkeeper’s face flushed crimson. He opened and closed his mouth, unable to say a word.
By the time he returned to the shop, Cheng Yao had already left.
He beat his breast in regret. He should have sold the Sichuan brocade to the Princess Consort first and reported it afterward!
The thought of having this entire batch of brocade dumped on him made him feel cold all over.
…
“Three hundred bolts of Sichuan brocade, fifty bolts of Yunjin, and three hundred bolts of cotton and linen fabric have been prepared. They’ll be delivered to the address you provided immediately.”
“Madam Cheng, all the fabric has been loaded onto the carts.”
“You are now one of our Yipintang’s most honored customers. Everything in the shop will be available to you at a twenty-percent discount.”
Cheng Yao bought a large quantity of fabric, ready-made clothing, and various necessities such as firewood, rice, oil, and salt. She had everything delivered to a dilapidated house she owned outside the capital.
As one banknote after another left her hands, she did not feel the slightest pain.
Once these goods were sold in the place of exile, their prices would increase by at least threefold. What did she have to worry about? She could hardly be happier.
Earlier, when she had waited in the Zhan family’s shop for so long without seeing the shopkeeper return, she had known something was wrong.
Perhaps Second Madam Zhan had deliberately opposed her, or perhaps she was afraid Cheng Yao was plotting something and did not want to sell to her.
Ha! They refused to sell now, but within two days, they would definitely come begging her.
And if they did not, she would simply take the goods for herself. She would not even have to spend a single coin.
Cheng Yao put everything away in her interspatial storage, leaving only ten carts of Sichuan brocade behind. Then she took out some gold, silver, and other valuables from the space and sent them to Cheng Ling.
Cheng Ling was the original Cheng Yao’s elder sister. Quiet and reserved, she rarely spoke and had little presence in the household.
Their mother had died young, and Cheng Ling’s situation was no better.
Knowing that her stepmother, Wang Qiuniang, would control her fate, she had found a husband from a poor family herself at the age of fourteen and begged her grandmother to arrange the marriage.
Afterward, she lived in poverty. Apart from the day she returned to her parents’ home after the wedding and the occasions when her grandparents passed away, she never visited her maiden family during festivals or holidays.
In the novel, she was also a cannon-fodder character, mentioned only twice. The first time was when her husband passed the imperial examinations and she wept tears of joy.
The second was when foreign forces invaded and breached the city gates. Her husband charged forward and used his own body to block a spear, dying a heroic death. The invaders trampled his corpse into the mud, leaving not even a complete skeleton behind. Upon hearing the news, she vomited blood and died, leaving behind two starving children whose fate could easily be imagined.
Cheng Yao let out a sigh.
Before she left, she had to make proper arrangements for Cheng Ling.
